


Between the Rhythm of Hello and What

by tomatopudding



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Drama, M/M, Romance, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-13
Updated: 2009-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-10 06:51:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/96829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The government has finally figured out a way to change a person's DNA. A group of average people are chosen to be "changed". As their abilities grow, one man by the name of Gabriel Gray finds himself being consumed by his power. Slash. Mylar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We Are the Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Posted at the LJ comm heroes_bigboom

He was teaching a class when they came for him, burly men in black suits flashing their FBI badges, and leading him from the lecture hall as the class watched in awe. They offered no explanation, taking him to his room and ordering him to pack up everything he wanted because he wasn't coming back.

He stuffed as much clothing as he could into his black duffel bag, barely managing to squeeze in toothbrush, comb, shaving cream, and razor. He packed up his laptop into its small backpack and grabbed the picture of himself with his father on his graduation day.

They ushered him into a long black car with tinted windows, shoving him onto the floor so that he couldn't see outside. They drove for hours and he eventually fell asleep. They woke him some time later and he climbed out of the car.

There was a large three-story brick building, looking very out of place in the middle of the forest. He grabbed his things and followed the agents into the building. They led him up to the third floor.

There was a long hallway dotted with doors, which they walked down, finding the third door on the right. An agent opened the door and pushed him inside, shutting it with a snap. It was a nice sized room with a beige carpet and cream colored walls. He turned to see two full sized beds with dark blue bedspreads, the only bit of color in the room.

One of the beds had someone laying on it. The man's thick black brows and somewhat prominent nose gave him a sinister look. But then he looked up and a broad grin spread across his face, making the honey-caramel eyes sparkle and crinkle at the corners.

'Hi!' he said brightly, his voice silky and smooth, 'My name's Gray, Gabriel Gray.'

'Mohinder Suresh. What's going on? Why am I here?'

'Hell if I know,' Gabriel said with a shrug, 'They came for me in the middle of the night, scared my roommate half to death. All they told me was that I had been hand chosen by the President for some government project or something.'

'That's more than they told me,' Mohinder muttered crossly, 'They just came and interrupted my class in the middle of a lecture.'

'Well, Mohinder, go ahead and unpack, make yourself at home. I think we're gonna have to stay here whether we like it or not, based on those FBI dudes. Bathroom's over there, take the chest of drawers on the left,' Gabriel told him, pointing to the far wall.

'A private bathroom?' Mohinder queried.

'Yup. Say, are you British?'

'I was born in India, but my family moved to Oxfordshire when I was three,' Mohinder replied, folding what clothes he had and placing them in the drawers.

'That's so cool! I wish I had an awesome family background. I've lived in New York for as long as I can remember.'

Mohinder stuck his toiletries in the bathroom, plugged his laptop in and placed it on a small table in the corner of the room. He had just put his graduation picture on the bedside table, when the door opened and a man he hadn't seen before stuck his head in.

'Mr. Gray, Dr. Suresh, please come with me. The others are waiting to begin dinner,' the man said. Mohinder stood with his hands on his hips defiantly.

'Why?' he asked, 'What are we doing here?'

'All will be explained,' the man replied, opening the door wider to reveal more of his broad body, 'Come with me.'

Mohinder grumbled, but exited the room, Gabriel hopping off the bed and following close behind.

'So, doctor, huh?' Gabriel said as they walked, 'Is that MD or PhD?'

'PhD,' Mohinder answered, 'I'm a geneticist and I teach at University of California at Berkeley. Well, I _did _anyway.'

'I'm a watchmaker slash watch repairman,' Gabriel told him. Mohinder smiled.

'That's cool.'

'The word cool sounds weird with your accent.'

'So, never say it again?'

'Yup.'

'What do you expect me to say instead? Smashing?'

'Yup.'

Mohinder rolled his eyes.

'Why is it people think that just because I'm British I should have to speak in British slang? Nobody has said smashing for probably about fifty years,' Mohinder complained. Gabriel chuckled.

'We Americans can be annoying like that,' he replied.

'I'll say,' Mohinder muttered.

By now, they had arrived down on the first floor and were standing in front of a rather large wooden door. They could hear chatter from inside the room. Their escort nodded and Mohinder reached forward to open the door. He and Gabriel stepped inside.

There was a long table, set with plates, glasses, and silverware. Eleven others already sat there: five men, one boy, two teenaged girls, one younger girl, and two women.

Another man stood off to the side. He was tall and thin with dark brown hair pulled into a low ponytail and bright blue eyes. He wore a black suit pinstriped with silver. His manner was crisp and clean.

'Ah, our final guests have arrived!' he said jovially, his kind voice betraying the tough-guy, mob boss-like appearance, 'Thank you, Charles.'

The escort inclined his head and left, closing the door behind him.

'Sit, my good men, sit!' the man said, indicating the only empty seats, 'My name is Benjamin and I'm the reason you're here. Explanations all in good time, but first, I believe some introductions are in order.'

Mohinder and Gabriel sat.

'Don't be shy!' Benjamin scolded them with a smile, 'Why don't we start with you, Mr. Gray?'

Gabriel looked up sharply to the meet the smiling Benjamin's eye. He glared for a moment before looking down at his hands.

'Gabriel Gray.'

Benjamin then nodded to Mohinder.

'Mohinder Suresh, PhD.'

Mohinder felt slightly pompous, adding his title like that, but he felt that it was necessary to give the full effect.

Beside Mohinder was one of the teenagers, a junior in high school he guessed, who had long dirty-blonde hair with fringe hanging in her eyes. She introduced herself as Claire Bennett. Beside her was the other teenager, also blonde, who was named Elle Bishop.

They continued around the rectangular table, announcing their names. The introductions done, Benjamin clapped his hands together sharply.

'Great! Now, we eat!'

The meal was a mostly silent affair, with people concentrating too much on the delicious food and their own thoughts to make much conversation. Two of the men were obviously Japanese in descent and spoke to each other quietly in their native language. A few comments were made by a man Mohinder had recognized as Nathan Petrelli, one of the men who was up for election for the Senate, about the quality of the food. These comments were echoed by a younger guy, his hair flopping over his eyes, but with an obvious family resemblance, and rightly so, seeing as it was Nathan's brother Peter.

Micah Sanders, a young boy with mocha skin and a mass of black curls carried on a shy, whispered conversation with the businesswoman beside him Tracy Strauss.

Beside the Petrelli brothers was a woman with short, windswept blonde hair so light that it was almost white. If the crutches leaning against the table were any indication, she had a crippling case of polio. She had introduced herself as Daphne Millbrook and she kept her eyes on the food before her, occasionally glancing towards the man beside her. In the contrast to Daphne's lithe frame, the man, a cop by the name of Matt Parkman, was solidly built and a little on the heavy side. He didn't seem to notice Daphne's glances as his attention was focused solely on the girl beside him, his adoptive daughter Molly.

Mohinder preferred people watching to conversation during mealtimes, and as his gaze swept around the room, the geneticist tried to figure out what kind of government project such a group of myriad shapes and sizes could have been chosen for. When the final dishes had been cleared away, Benjamin stood before them once more.

'Now, I'm sure you'd all like to know why you're here.'

'You bet your ass we do,' came a muttered reply from Matt Parkman. A nervous chuckle went around the table.

'Thank you, Detective Parkman,' Benjamin said crisply, 'As I was saying, you have all been chosen specifically for a new government experiment. Come with me.'

Hesitantly, they all stood and followed Benjamin up to the second floor. They entered what was obviously a lab, beeping machines all around. In the centre of the room was something that looked like a huge soup pot. Benjamin stopped before it. He pulled on latex gloves and picked up a syringe that was lying on the table, dipping into the pot. When he drew it out again, they could see the syringe was full of a murky gray-green fluid.

'This experiment,' Benjamin told them grandly, 'is a breakthrough in genetic engineering. We are working with your very DNA!'

Mohinder frowned slightly. Where was Benjamin going with this? The scientist part of him was eager to learn what exactly Benjamin meant by "working" with their DNA, but other part of him was, to tell the truth, scared. His father, also a geneticist, had also been doing experiments with DNA, which is what led to his murder.

'Our DNA specifically?' Nathan Petrelli asked his voice accusatory, 'Have you been following us or something?'

'Certainly not, Mr. Petrelli,' Benjamin said, 'I didn't actually mean yours specifically, but rather human DNA in general. All of you were chosen for very different reasons. Some, for diversity,' he indicated the two children standing beside Matt, 'Some, for specific skills you might have, such as being a good leader or extremely smart. We want to see how the changes we will make to you will affect the different types of people.'

'You're going to make changes to us by—what? Moving around our DNA?' Matt asked him curiously, 'Are you going to go make me blonde or something?'

'That's impossible,' Mohinder interrupted. All eyes turned to him and he continued, albeit more shyly.

'You can't change someone's genetic makeup to permanently alter their appearance.'

Benjamin smiled.

'My dear Dr. Suresh, who said anything about physical appearance?'

He placed the syringe down on the metal table and pulled the gloves off with a snap, disposing them in a receptacle on the floor.

'Is this legal?' one of the Japanese men, Hiro, the younger-looking one with a round face and oval glasses, asked in halting English.

'I assure you, Mr. Nakamura, I have full permission from the President to conduct this experiment,' Benjamin told him soothingly.

'What about permission from us?' the other Japanese, Ando, queried. A mumble of agreement swept through the group.

'You have been hand picked, each of you for a specific reason,' Benjamin told them acidly, his jovial demeanor slipping, 'If you would like, I can go through every single one of those reasons later. But right now, you are being _invited _to participate in an extremely important government experiment,' Benjamin continued, putting such an emphasis on invited that Mohinder could tell it was more of a demand than a request, 'If you have a problem with that, you may certainly bring it up with any of the personnel.' He indicated the burly men who flanked the group_._

'And now, follow me.'

With an inclination of his head, Benjamin began to walk away. Mohinder now found himself in step with Matt Parkman.

'So your PhD is in this kind of stuff?'

'Genetics, yes.'

'That's pretty cool. I'm just a lowly cop. Detective, really, but lowly none the less.'

'At least you get to help people every day,' Mohinder sighed, 'I just teach.'

'Teaching is important,' Matt said, nudging him playfully, 'Good teaching is what saved my little Molly's life.'

Mohinder looked over to where Molly was making conversation with the young boy, Micah.

'Some madman broke into her house and murdered her parents,' Matt explained quietly, 'She had the good sense to go hide and call the cops. I found her in her parents' closet. She heard the whole thing.'

'That's awful,' Mohinder murmured, 'It was very good of you to take her in.'

'In the beginning, I didn't really have much of a choice. But after a few months of being her state appointed guardian, we both came to the conclusion that I should adopt her,' Matt said, sighing slightly, 'I'm glad I did. She's a good kid.'

They smiled at one another.

'Mohinder.'

Mohinder turned. Gabriel appeared at his side and grabbed his arm. Benjamin had stopped at a small door and was waiting for people to catch up. Mohinder thanked his roommate and made his way to the front. He didn't see the scathing look that Gabriel sent Matt. Once they had all crowded around, Benjamin began.

'This may be hard to believe, but the gene injection that you will be given tomorrow will allow you to receive special abilities. Powers, let's say.'

There was a snort of disbelief from a number of people, Mohinder included.

'I thought you might say that.'

Benjamin opened the door to reveal what was obviously an observation area, looking into a large concrete room through a thick Plexiglas window. Inside the room lay a man, bound to a metal bed that was, in turn, bolted to the floor. An air tank stood beside the bed and the tube attached to it was draped over the nozzle.

'Normally, we keep him sedated, but I thought you might need a little demonstration. You see,' Benjamin began, 'when we first suggested this project to the president, he told us that we had to do test on Death Row inmates before we could inject normal citizens. What Mr. President didn't take into account, however, was the fact that we can't control what ability the injected person receives. As a result, this killer was given the power to cut things by only pointing a finger. Impossible you say? Let's find out.'

Benjamin used a key card to open the door and led them inside the holding room.

'Hello, Clarence,' he called out softly. Clarence turned his bald head to look at Benjamin with piggy eyes and mumbled something incomprehensible.

'I've brought you some visitors.'

Clarence let out an angry growl and whipped his hand out as far as he could with the restraints, his extended finger pointed towards teenaged Claire. She let out a little scream as a straight cut appeared on her arm, going from her elbow to her palm. Benjamin jumped into action, stepping in front of the group and approaching the inmate, holding down the restrained man's hands. Two guards rushed in, one ushering a sobbing Claire away, the other shoving a sedation tube up Clarence's nose. The inmate struggled for a moment and then lay still as the sedative took hold. Benjamin stepped back, running a hand through his hair.

'Are you insane!' shouted Peter Petrelli, 'You deliberately put us in danger! What if it had been her throat or one of the kids'?'

Benjamin turned.

'Now you believe me.'

It wasn't a question.

'Enough excitement for one night, I think. Off to bed with you lot.'

Mohinder followed Gabriel back to their room blindly, immersed in his own thoughts. _It's impossible,_ the geneticist in him argued. _You saw it with your own eyes, _countered the other part of his brain. _But it's impossible, _persisted the geneticist, _Gene replacement therapy, maybe, but introducing a whole new gene without the host body rejecting it immediately? _The other half of his was silent but for one thought. _You saw it._

'Mohinder?'

Mohinder snapped out of his thoughts to see that they had arrived back at their room. It wasn't until they were both showered and lying in their respective beds that Mohinder spoke.

'What do you think of all of this, Gabriel?'

'All of what?'

'Genetic alteration. Changing people's very chemical makeup to make them what you want them to be.'

'To make them better, you mean,' Gabriel said.

'Not necessarily better,' Mohinder countered, 'A murderer who was on Death Row who is now able to kill people with just a flick of his wrist and a pointed finger? Doesn't sound better to me.'

'Maybe not better for the world as a whole,' Gabriel replied, 'but better for the individual.'

'So you're all for it then?'

'Yup. I think it's neat.'

They lay in silence for a few moments.

'What about you, Mo?'

'Mo?' Mohinder chuckled.

'Yeah. It's a nickname. Deal with it. What are your thoughts on all this, Mo?'

'Well, _Gabe_,' Mohinder replied, grinning at the face Gabriel pulled at this nickname, 'I guess I'm not too sure.'

Mohinder's grin faded and he stared at the ceiling contemplatively. 'The geneticist part of me finds it fascinating and amazingly exciting, but I can't help but wonder about the ethics behind it.'

'Ethics?' Gabriel queried.

'I mean, think about it. How many times do you think that had to test different versions of the serum before they found one that worked? Mistakes in that formula would almost certainly spell death for the person injected.'

'They were all inmates from Death Row,' Gabriel pointed out.

'But what if they weren't?' Mohinder countered, 'What if something goes wrong with any of us?'

'The chances of that happening—' Gabriel began.

'Still exist,' interrupted Mohinder, 'Come on, Gabe, humour me. What if?'

Gabriel thought for a long moment.

'A life's a life. People die, we move on.'

'Even if it was Micah or Molly?' Mohinder asked.

'People die,' Gabriel repeated, 'We move on. Death doesn't matter; it's nothing to worry about.'

The watchmaker switched off the light. Mohinder fell asleep with thoughts on the meaning of life and death swirling through his mind.


	2. New Beginnings

The next morning no time was wasted. A wake-up call came at eight in the morning in the form of Charles pounding on their door.

Mohinder, always an early riser, had been awake for two hours already and was working, a stack of papers before him and a pen in his hand. He was dressed casually his black curls still damp from his shower. Gabriel woke with the pounding on the door, stretching his arms over his head, and scrubbing a hand over his face.

'What're you doing, Mo?' he asked sleepily.

'Grading term papers,' Mohinder replied, making a mark on one of the papers.

'At this time?'

'I need to get them done.'

'You do realize that you won't be allowed to go back, right?' Gabriel asked softly, padding over to stand beside Mohinder. The geneticist sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

'I'll mail them.'

'Does this have anything to do with the fact that we're getting those injections today?' Gabriel queried.

'No,' Mohinder answered quickly, and then he sighed again, 'Maybe a little.'

Gabriel reached forward, snatched the pen from Mohinder's hand, put it down on the table, and drew the darker man into a hug. The fact that they had met only the day before made no difference when Mohinder buried his face in Gabriel's chest, or when Gabriel placed a small, soft, barely perceptible kiss on the top of Mohinder's head.

'I want to go back to my life,' Mohinder said, voice slightly muffled, 'I don't want to be a test subject for some government experiment.'

'None of us were given much of a choice, were we?' Gabriel murmured.

'No,' Mohinder concurred, finally drawing out of the embrace.

'We'll get through this together,' Gabriel promised, 'All of us.'

Mohinder nodded. Another knock came on the door and the voice of the security guard, Charles, floated into the room. 'Breakfast in fifteen minutes.'

Gabriel pulled away from the other man completely and went to change. Mohinder tried to return to his papers, but found that his eyes kept straying to Gabriel.

The watchmaker was pulling a t-shirt over his head and Mohinder got an eyeful of the toned, flat plane of his stomach. He wasn't muscular, but Gabriel was definitely fit. There was the faint outlining of a six-pack.

Mohinder looked away, heart pounding. It had been quite a while since he had felt this way, but he recognized it easily enough.

Her name had been Eden and they had been in love. They lived together for three years and were engaged to be married when a car accident had resulted in Eden's death.

For the past five years, Mohinder had been thoroughly convinced that he never feel the same way again; the butterflies in his stomach, his head spinning, and that feeling of simple desire making his fingers itch to grab those slender wrists and explore that taut stomach.

Mohinder thought about the kiss Gabriel had placed on his head and wondered. He couldn't say that he had never been attracted to another male. Of course, everyone does there experimenting in college, but he had never felt anything more intense than a schoolboy crush.

'Ready?'

Mohinder was pulled from his musing by Gabriel, now fully dressed.

Mohinder stood. 'Yes.'

After a full breakfast, they all congregated in the lab beside the giant vat of the "power juice", as Mohinder had mentally christened it. Benjamin was standing there, latex gloves sheathing his hands, a syringe and a pile of sterilized needles on the table before him. The vat was open and a slight curl of mist was rising from the liquid within.

Benjamin called them up one by one to receive the injection. When it was finally Mohinder's turn, he stepped forward, extending his right arm. Benjamin swabbed the area above the vein in the crook of his elbow with a numbing disinfectant wipe. Mohinder watched as Benjamin slid the needle into the vein and pushed the plunger. When the syringe was empty, the needle was pulled out. The only thing Mohinder felt was a cold patch where the needle had pierced his skin.

The rest of the day was spent at their leisure. Any sign of powers wouldn't appear until the following day. Mohinder and Gabriel returned to their room, but, much to the latter's dismay, Mohinder returned to grading term papers for the class he would more than likely never see again.

'Oh, come on, Mo,' Gabriel whined, 'We have a whole day to ourselves, let's explore!'

'Is swallow spelled with one "l" or two?' Mohinder asked.

'Two,' Gabriel replied, 'Are you even listening to me? You, me, exploring?'

'I heard you the first time,' Mohinder said, making yet another mark on the paper. Gabriel sighed in exasperation and strode over, snatching the pen from Mohinder's hand and tossing it aside.

'Hey!' Mohinder protested, rising. Gabriel grabbed the geneticist's biceps to keep him from going to get a pen.

'Gabe,' Mohinder whined, ignoring the jolt he received from the contact.

'Let's go exploring,' Gabriel reiterated once more.

'You sound like a little kid,' Mohinder told him, 'I really don't want to go wandering around the building right now.'

'Who said anything about the building?' Gabriel murmured. And then, his lips were on Mohinder's in a cautious, chaste kiss. Gabriel drew away slowly, leaving Mohinder with his head tilted upwards, eyelids closed softly, lashes fluttering.

Mohinder opened his eyes slowly, looking up at the taller man for a silent moment before surging forward to press his lips to Gabriel's, head at an angle, and somehow they just fit together like a puzzle. It was as if Mohinder's lips had been specially sculpted to mold together with Gabriel's.

Once more they pulled apart and Gabriel initiated another kiss. After one dizzying moment, Mohinder reacted, grabbing Gabriel's biceps, pulling them closer together. Mohinder's eyes fluttered shut again and his lips parted slightly.

Gabriel took this as an invitation, slipping his tongue timidly into Mohinder's mouth. Mohinder met it cautiously with his own. Both men could feel a jolt of electricity and passion surge between them. Gabriel pressed farther still, swirling his tongue over and around Mohinder's, over teeth and gums, tasting and exploring the geneticist's mouth.

Mohinder let out a breathy moan, fingers tightening around Gabriel's arms, nails digging into the watchmaker's skin. Gabriel's hands moved to tangle fingers in Mohinder's curls, reveling in their silkiness.

Taking advantage of the darker man's shorter height, Gabriel gripped the curls and tugged the geneticist's head backwards to expose his smooth throat. Gabriel leant over to attach his mouth to the point where Mohinder's neck and shoulder met, eliciting another moan as he sucked at the skin and worried it lightly with his teeth.

When Gabriel pulled back to examine the small, but visible, mark he had left, Mohinder pushed him back and the two landed on the floor, both ignoring any pain from the fall and concentrating instead on their lips coming back together once more in a tangle of fire, heat, and passion.

The next morning, Mohinder woke later than usual. After a brief moment of panic during which he worried about being late to his class, Mohinder noticed the warm skin of the body twined with his. With a jolt, he remembered where he was.

Behind him, Gabriel stirred as he began to wake, arm tightening around Mohinder's stomach. Gabriel sighed, nuzzling his nose into the crook of Mohinder's neck. 'Good morning,' he murmured, kissing the geneticist's shoulder.

'G'morning,' Mohinder replied, twining his fingers with the ones already resting on his abs, 'What time is it?'

'Nine,' Gabriel replied, glancing briefly at the clock on the bedside table.

'I'm hungry,' As if on cue, Mohinder's stomach grumbled.

Gabriel chuckled, his breath warm on Mohinder's skin. 'So I can tell.'

After another few moments, Mohinder sighed and began to draw away. Gabriel, who was slipping back under the veil of sleep, made a noise of protest and pulled Mohinder back to him.

'Gabriel,' Mohinder whined, 'I'm hungry.'

It took more cajoling to get Gabriel to finally let him go, and by the time they had picked up all of their discarded clothes from the night before and were dressed and ready to go, it was nine thirty.

Mohinder emerged from the bathroom to find Gabriel standing in the centre of the room, staring at the analog clock on the wall, his face blank.

'Gabe?' Mohinder asked, approaching him, 'Gabriel, what is it?'

'Nothing,' Gabriel replied, eyes still on the clock, 'It's just—that clock is two minutes fast.'

'How can you tell'

Gabriel shrugged. 'I just know. It's like the clock is _telling _me that it's wrong,' Gabriel paused and frowned, 'That sounds insane.'

'We can worry about insanity and telepathic clocks later,' Mohinder joked, 'But right now, let's go eat.'

Together, they walked down to the dining hall. Matt and Molly were seated at the table, each with full plates in front of them.

Nathan Petrelli was loitering in a corner with a cup of coffee in his hands. Matt looked up when they entered and smiled. 'Hello Mohinder,' he said warmly, adding stonily, 'Gabriel.'

'Good morning,' Mohinder replied, oblivious to the change in the detective's voice.

'Buffet is in the kitchen,' Matt told them. Mohinder turned to go to the door that Matt had indicated, but Gabriel stopped him with a hand on his arm.

'Allow me.'

'Thanks,' Mohinder said warmly, sitting down across from Matt, 'Eggs, toast, and coffee, please.'

Gabriel gave him a thumbs up and headed over to the kitchen. As he collected the food, Gabriel could hear Mohinder laughing at something that Matt had said and he felt anger and jealousy bubble up in his chest. He felt particularly protective of his new lover.

Gabriel exited the kitchen, arranging his face in what he hoped was a pleasant expression and walked over to the table. He sat beside Mohinder, putting down both of their meals. He casually slung a protective arm around Mohinder's waist. The geneticist looked down at the hand resting on his hip, slightly confused, then smiled and scooted closer to Gabriel so that their thighs pressed together.

Matt glanced down at the arm, then up to meet Gabriel's eyes. Gabriel met the detective's gaze squarely, a smug smirk spreading across his face, the meaning of it extremely clear to Matt.

'Well, you don't have to be so pushy,' Matt grumbled. Mohinder looked up from his food, confused. Gabriel's face held the same expression.

'What?'

'I just—Gabriel, you were—didn't you just—.'

Gabriel was genuinely confused, listening to Matt try to stutter through an explanation.

'You threatened me!' Matt got out finally, glaring at Gabriel. Gabriel frowned. Though he had, in fact, threatened the cop, he had done it in his mind only.

'Shut up!' Matt shouted, clapping his hands over his ears. A frightened Molly moved away to stand up against the wall away from her adoptive father. Nathan Petrelli emerged from his corner and approached, placing his coffee on the table.

'Get Benjamin!' Mohinder commanded, separating himself from Gabriel to go over to Matt, who was now clutching at his ears and whimpering.

Nathan returned promptly with Benjamin and the guard, Charles, in tow. Benjamin went to over to Matt, kneeling beside him.

'Talk to me, Matthew,' he said softly, 'What is it?'

'Voices,' Matt managed, 'Everyone's in my head!'

'He's gone insane!' Gabriel whispered to Mohinder. The geneticist shushed him

A look of comprehension crossed Benjamin's heavy features. 'Concentrate on blocking them out, one by one,' Benjamin commanded Matt. With Benjamin's soft instructions, they managed to calm Matt down.

'I could hear everyone in my head,' Matt told them shakily, 'Nathan was saying something about a daughter, Gabriel was threatening me, and Mohinder was, um,' Matt blushed, 'never mind, that's not important.'

Benjamin thought for a moment. 'I'd like to try something,' he said, 'Release your block on me, slowly, now repeat everything that you can hear.'

Matt followed the directions and, after a few minutes, Benjamin sat back.

'Well, Mr. Parkman,' he said, 'I believe that you have become a telepath.'


	3. Discoveries

Not very long after Benjamin announced Matt's telepathy, one of the teenaged girls, Claire Bennett, ran in, brandishing her arm. The previous evening, it had had a long scar from Clarence's attack, but the skin was now clear.

Throughout the day, people's new powers began popping up.

Micah discovered his technopathy while watching morning cartoons. He had discovered that the remote wasn't working so hit the TV telling it to change the channel and it had obeyed

During breakfast, Nathan found himself up near the ceiling after he jumped to avoid a dropped dish. After floating carefully to the floor, the Petrelli had been grinning widely and gushed about how weightless he had felt.

While bored, Hiro managed to make time jump forward an hour and then ran around the building shouting "yatai!" to everyone who would listen. The Japanese man couldn't explain why he had tried to move time in the first place. He simply said that he had felt like the second hand of the clock had been pulling him.

Elle accidentally shot lightning at Peter after he had made a crude comment about Claire. She later said that there was a pounding in her temples and a tingle in her hands that she had originally attributed to anger. She had pointed at Peter in order to give him, as she put it, "a little talking to", when the bolt had shot out. Peter had ducked just in time for the electricity to shoot over his head and hit the far wall.

Ando's power appeared to be some odd energy projection that came in the form of lightning very similar to Elle's except in red. Benjamin had taken Ando to the lab for some tests.

At lunch, Tracy had been complaining about how her water was too warm when she ended up freezing the water. Surprised, she dropped it and the entire thing shattered.

'My hands aren't even cold!' Tracy had commented, staring at her hands in awe.

While Matt was confined to a sound-proofed room in order to work on shielding his mind from other people's thoughts, Molly found that she could see exactly where Matt was being held just by thinking about him.

The greatest thrill of the day was when Daphne found herself able to walk without her polio braces. When she went to run laps around the building, discovered her super speed. Afterwards, she had flung herself into Benjamin's arms, thanking him profusely for giving her back the ability to walk.

It seemed that Peter had a number of these powers, but Benjamin soon discovered that he simply had the power to mimic other abilities.

'When I'm near somebody,' Peter had explained, 'I can feel the ability radiating off of them! When I woke up this morning, I swear I could actually see Nathan's flying ability flow into me. I thought it was just a trick of the light.' He had finished with as shrug.

At first, Mohinder's power remained undiagnosed, until he punched the wall in frustration and the concrete cracked. Mohinder had looked down at his unharmed fist in shock.

It was Gabriel's power that had Benjamin and his scientist stumped. Gabriel showed no outward signs of any power, and it wasn't until he mentioned about the clock "telling" him that it was two minutes fast that Benjamin came to the conclusion Gabriel had intuitive aptitude, which Benjamin described as "the ability to innately understand and manipulate patterns within complex systems."

The days passed slowly for them. Mornings were devoted to learning control of their powers and afternoons were free to their leisure. Mohinder and Gabriel spent most of their free time together resting or talking or simply basking in each other's company.

During the times when they did nothing, Gabriel would take the time to collect his own thoughts. He thought about many things, from how beautiful Mohinder looked when he slept and a puddle of sunshine spilled across his bare back and shoulders, to how his new ability would help with his watch business, especially the repairing part, that is, if they ever were let back into their normal lives.

It was one time when he was lying in bed, Mohinder's head resting on his chest, his hand idly stroking the geneticist's black curls that it first happened. He was studying the man beside him intently, eyes roaming over the arch of Mohinder's back, the curve of his shoulder, the soft line of his neck, the high cheekbones, his gorgeous skin. When Mohinder's eyes met Gabriel's gaze and something surged through the watchmaker, a sort of buzzing and tingling swirled through his mind and images began to flash before him, images of muscles expanding and contracting. Mohinder looked away, gasping as if he had just run a mile, and Gabriel blinked.

'What was that?' Mohinder asked breathlessly.

'I think I was learning your power,' Gabriel said with hushed awe and wonder.

'It burned,' Mohinder said, 'Like my brain was on fire or something. Gabe?'

'Yes?'

'Please don't do it again.'

Gabriel agreed, but a certain thought was planted in his brain and now the seed was putting down roots.

______________

Gabriel couldn't stop thinking about it, the way it felt for the information to be flowing into his mind, bringing instructions for lifting and pulling, beginning to show him the way the ability actually worked. Ever since that day, the power he had only partially downloaded seemed to wriggle inside of him, calling out for more, and bringing with it this hunger, a hunger for power.

The weeks passed and the hunger only intensified. It was different from any type of hunger Gabriel had ever felt. It was in his brain as his mind yearned to reach the rest of the information for Mohinder's power. It scared Gabriel, the way he longed to grab his lover, look deep into those warm brown eyes, and rip the ability from him, to tear that intelligent brain out and to search through it until he found the knowledge he craved. Something had to be done.

About three months after they had received their abilities, Gabriel decided to solve his little problem. Knowing that he couldn't—wouldn't—ever actually do the grotesque things he imagined to Mohinder, Gabriel snuck out of their room in the middle of the night. He padded down the stairs and over to the lab, using an all-access pass he had snatched from the bedside table.

Benjamin had given Mohinder the pass because he was a geneticist. Benjamin said that he felt Mohinder should be able to help out in the lab if he so chose.

As he had hoped, the entrance to the Clarence's viewing area was unlocked, and the door into Clarence's room itself was opened by his pass. The inmate was sedated, tube in his nose, and shackled to the table. Gabriel pulled the tube out and waited until the man was awake enough to open his eyes.

'Wakey wakey,' Gabriel murmured. He leaned over and caught the inmate's gaze with his own, concentrating hard. The images began to flash across his vision, moving faster and faster with each passing second. Clarence screamed, but Gabriel didn't hear, he was so focused on the information he was downloading.

And then, it stopped.

Gabriel reeled back, blinking rapidly, and Clarence collapsed limply onto the table. Gabriel surged forwards. The inmate was staring blankly, mouth slack. Gabriel's breathing quickened and he felt the pulse point at Clarence's throat. It was silent. Gabriel had never dreamed that he would ever kill another human being, but he would have thought that if it ever did happen, he'd feel remorse or even fear.

But Gabriel never would have thought that he would feel such a sense of power and fulfillment, such an all-encompassing happiness and pride. He felt a need to somehow sign his work, to let people know what he had done. He ripped open the inmate's shirt to reveal the muscular chest. "Gabriel" was too long, and plus, who signed a murder with the name of an angel? He needed an alias. The watch on Gabriel's wrist caught his eye. There were five letters printed on it near the juncture of the tiny, black hands. Gabriel grinned and used his new power to carve in the inmate's cold chest three simple words.

I am Sylar.

It was Charles who found Clarence's body, the cryptic phrase carved in his chest with the inmate's own ability. Upon farther examination from Benjamin's scientists, it was discovered that there was no discernable cause of death. The cuts had been made post-mortem, the scientists told Benjamin. There was one odd thing though, they said, part of the inmate's brain appeared to be liquefied without diagnosable cause.

When Benjamin told them what had happened, sans Micah and Molly of course, there was a slight panic. Who was this 'Sylar' and what vendetta had they had for Clarence? Were the rest of them in danger? Benjamin assured them that he would make sure that it never happened again. Nobody had entered the building the night before, as revealed by the fact that the security alarms hadn't gone off, so it had to have been somebody already inside. So, Benjamin said that he was going to look at the security camera footage to see who was responsible.

______________

Matthew Parkman hadn't made detective for nothing. His powers of observation were very acute, and this was only amplified by his telepathy. So, as Benjamin was relaying the news, Matthew Parkman was making a telepathic sweep of the room. The general feeling was fear, followed closely by anger. Only one person was different: Gabriel. The watchmaker's mind was filled with static, which meant that he was working to block Matt's telepathic probe. Naturally, this made Matt curious. Though Gabriel looked as shocked as everyone else, his eyes shone brightly, as if someone had just told a particularly good joke. And when Benjamin mentioned the security tape, the mirth disappeared and was replaced with cold fear.


	4. Knowledge

They were confined to their rooms until further notice and Gabriel was pacing restlessly, his mind buzzing. If Benjamin caught a clear view of his face on that security camera footage, he was finished. The thing that scared Gabriel the most wasn't the fear of getting caught, but rather it was the fear of never getting that feeling again, that thrill he got when he had caused the death of a helpless man, as unintentional as it was.

On the contrary to being quelled, the thirst for power had just intensified after he had taking the inmate's ability. He needed to kill again, he wanted to kill again. And this is what scared Gabriel the most, shaking him to his very core. So he drew Mohinder to him and tried to help both of them forget.

When dinner time arrived, they were finally released from the confinement. Matt kept Molly and Micah close by his side even after the panic had ended. The two children seemed oblivious to what was going on around them, and Matt liked to keep it that way. Dinner was silent and tense, no one really eating much, waiting for any news. Finally, Benjamin walked in, and all eyes snapped to him. He shook his head tiredly.

'It was too dark to see his face.'

Matt could tell that he was lying.

Benjamin said he couldn't see who had killed Clarence, but by the way his eyes flicked around the room, Gabriel could tell that he had. That wouldn't do, now would it?

_______________

Benjamin was seated at his desk writing out a report of the killing for his superiors when there came a knock at the door. Benjamin nodded to Charles and the guard opened the heavy wooden door to reveal Gabriel.

'Ah, Mr. Gray, just the man I wanted to see. Charles, leave us.'

Gabriel stood in front of the desk, arms at his sides with his fists clenched. 'You know.' It wasn't a question.

'Of course I know,' Benjamin scoffed, 'How would it look if I had to tell Bennett and Petrelli that I couldn't find the person who killed valuable government property?'

'Bennett and Petrelli?' Gabriel questioned.

'Not the ones you know, of course,' Benjamin said flippantly, 'Claire's father, Noah Bennett, Peter and Nathan's mother Angela Petrelli. Did you really think that I was the brains of this operation?'

'Why are you telling me this?'

'I would have thought it would be obvious. I'm going to kill you of course,' Benjamin told him glibly, 'And since that is case, perhaps you'd be willing to tell me how you did it.'

'I understood the mechanics.'

Benjamin nodded.

'Through the eyes. Of course! I should have guessed. Well, I suppose I should protect my own eyes then,' Benjamin could see how his calm tone was really bothering Gabriel. He extended his arm and a pair of sunglasses zoomed into his waiting hand.

'You have an ability?' Gabriel asked in surprise.

'Telekinesis,' Benjamin replied, 'Useful, isn't it? Now,' he stood, revealing a pistol in his other hand, 'on with it.'

Contrary to what Benjamin would have guessed to be the other man's reaction, Gabriel grinned. 'You think that some cheap sunglasses are going to stop me? I have other ways.'

Gabriel sounded so sure of himself that Benjamin had to fight to keep his voice steady. 'Really?'

Gabriel smirked and raised an arm, his finger extended. Benjamin's forehead burst into splitting pain and he screamed.

_______________

Gabriel looked down at the body on the floor before him. What other secrets were being kept from them? Benjamin had obviously not seen them as people, but rather "government property". A smirk spread across the watchmaker's face once more. Nobody owned Gabriel Grey. Nobody owned Sylar.

It was with this vengeance that he kneeled and began to poke through Benjamin's still-warm brain, those amazing instructive images flashing across his vision. When he had finished, Gabriel, no, Sylar, wiped his fingers on the dead man's shirt then ripped it open. He stood and carved his customary message into the cooling chest.

The door slammed open and Charles ran in. Sylar twitched his hand and Charles was thrown into the wall with a loud crack, blood oozing down his face to pool on the floor. Sylar grinned.

'Cool.'

Sylar ran into Matt in the hallway on the way to his and Mohinder's room.

'Get out of my way, Parkman,' Sylar growled.

'What did you do, Grey? I know that you're up to something.' Matt accused, 'You—'

'Benjamin's dead,' Sylar interrupted. Matt stopped midsentence.

'I—what?'

'Benjamin. Is. Dead.'

'How?'

'He was signed.'

Matt couldn't miss the glint in the other man's eye when he said this. The detective growled, 'I know who you are, Sylar.'

'What are you talking about, Detective Parkman?' Sylar said mock-innocently, 'My name is Gabriel,' he smirked, 'Goodnight, Detective.'

Sylar slipped past Matt and into his room.

________________

When Mohinder and Sylar woke, there was a tray of food just inside the door with a note saying that they were back on lockdown, signed by Matt. With the death of Benjamin and Charles, there was no real authority figure present. The scientists mostly kept to themselves and in the lab, reluctant to come in contact with them. The detective assumed the position of makeshift leader in order to ease the newly modified humans' fear.

'Who put him in charge,' Sylar muttered as he read it.

'What happened?' Mohinder asked blearily, rubbing his eyes.

'Last night, I found Benjamin and Charles in Benjamin's study murdered by Sylar,' Sylar explained, 'So, for some reason, Parkman put himself in charge.' Sylar began to hastily pull on his clothing.

'What're you doing?' Mohinder asked, slightly panicky.

'I'll be right back,' Sylar promised, exiting before Mohinder could protest. He found Matt in the dining room with Hiro, Ando, Nathan, Peter, and Tracy.

'So only Mohinder and I are on lockdown then?'

Six pairs of eyes snapped to him.

'Hello, Gabriel,' Nathan said with a nod, 'Mohinder.'

Sylar glanced behind his to see that Mohinder had indeed followed him. The geneticist stepped forward and grabbed Sylar's hand, threading their fingers together.

'Where's Daphne?' Mohinder asked.

'She opted out,' Matt explained shortly, eyeing Sylar with mistrust, 'She's with Claire, Elle, and the kids.'

'What about us?' Sylar protested, 'I don't remember opting out of a meeting about Sylar. This,' he cocked his head, '_is_ about Sylar, isn't it?'

Matt nodded reluctantly.

'Great! So what have we accomplished so far then?'

'Matt was going to tell us a theory he had,' Tracy said.

'About who Sylar really is,' added Peter.

'Let's hear it then,' Sylar said.

'You know who I think it is,' Matt said, narrowing his eyes.

'Refresh my memory.'

'Sylar is a murderer,' Matt told the room at large, 'and he's in this room right now.'

'Who?' Mohinder asked.

'You're holding his hand,' Matt replied. Mohinder jumped back reflexively, snatching his hand away from Sylar's.

'What!' Sylar protested, 'No I'm not!'

'Who are you going to believe,' Matt queried, 'a telepath, or him?'

'Please,' Sylar scoffed, 'That is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard. You could be lying just as easily. What grounds do you have to accuse me?'

Matt was silent.

'Exactly,' Sylar continued, 'You just hate me because you've had your eye on Mohinder.'

'That's ridiculous,' Matt protested weakly, a blush creeping up his cheeks. Sylar snorted in disbelief.

'You know what, I don't want to be here if you're just going to falsely accuse me of murdering three people.'

With that, Sylar turned on his heel and left the room. Mohinder glanced over at Matt for a moment, and then followed his lover.


	5. One By One

Sylar was pacing restlessly. He was worried that the others would believe Matt and turn against him as well. On top of it all, that infernal hunger just wouldn't go away.

'Gabriel.'

Sylar spun to face the geneticist. Mohinder's eyes were wide.

'It's okay, Gabriel. They'll catch this guy and clear you name. We're safe.'

Sylar could hear the fear and anxiety in Mohinder's voice and his entire demeanor softened. Of course Mohinder was scared. Sylar approached him, but the other man jumped back. Sylar's face fell.

'You don't,' he hesitated, '_Believe _what Parkman said, do you?'

'No!' Mohinder protested, 'It's just—'

'You're scared.'

Mohinder nodded.

Sylar sighed and opened his arms, beckoning to his lover. 'C'mere.'

Mohinder came over and, wrapping his arms around Sylar's waist, buried his face in the former watchmaker's chest. Sylar stood there, holding Mohinder to his chest trying to fight that strong urge to kill.

_______________

It was midnight and everybody was asleep. Everybody, that is, but one. Sylar crept silently down the hallway, stopping in front of one of the bedroom doors. There was a soft clicking nose as the latch slid in and the door opened. Sylar slipped into the room within. One of the beds was empty, but the other held the tell-tale lump of a sleeping person. Sylar smirked. Perfect. He walked over to the bed and threw off the blanket to reveal a sleeping Nathan Petrelli, clad in flannel pajama pants. Sylar stood over the sleeping form, lips still curled into a smirk.

Nathan's eyes snapped open as he woke. He looked up at Sylar in confusion. 'Gab—'

Nathan's mouth snapped closed, held there by Sylar's telekinesis. The Petrelli brother struggled against the binding power.

'Oh, hello there, Nathan. How are you this fine evening?' Sylar said conversationally.

Nathan pushed against his invisible bond, but it held fast.

'What's a matter?' Sylar mocked, 'Cat got your tongue?'

Sylar used more telekinesis to pin Nathan down to the bed. 'Hey, Nathan, let me tell you a little secret.' Sylar leaned over so that his mouth was millimeters away from Nathan's ear. 'I am Sylar,' he murmured.

The former watchmaker straightened, smirking as Nathan's eyes widened and he struggled once more against the telekinetic grasp. 'This is for your mother's pet project making my life a living hell.'

Nathan's screams never made it past his lips.

_______________

The next morning, they congregated in the dining room under Peter's request. The kids were once again being watched by Claire and Elle upstairs. The Petrelli brother's eyes were red-rimmed from crying.

'Sylar struck again,' Peter said softly, standing before them, 'Nathan.'

The tears were falling silently and Peter sank to his knees, arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, his face screwed up in pain.

Tracy rushed to kneel beside him, pulling the Petrelli into an embrace. The silence in the room was deafening as they all took in this news. Sylar had to force the smile to stay off of his face as Mohinder gripped his hand. Angela Petrelli now knew the extent of her mistake. It was Noah Bennett's turn.

There was, of course, the problem of Elle. Claire Bennett's roommate rarely went to sleep before her, the two teenagers usually staying up until all hours chatting, as teenage girls were prone to do. Of course, Sylar had no problem with killing Elle as well, the lightning would be such a useful power, but some part of him, albeit a small part of him, didn't want to have any more casualties than absolutely necessary. So he waited until he heard one of them go into the bathroom before he struck. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. Oh well, Sylar thought as he approached Elle where she was trapped with his telekinesis, whatever he needed to do to get the job done.

________________

Claire Bennett stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself. She could hear the television coming from within the room, but nothing else. Claire absent-mindedly pulled on her flannel pajama pants and tank top.

'Elle?' she called out cautiously. Usually, the other girl was prone to talking to herself and to the television, but there was nothing to be heard. Claire tried to open the door, but it pushed back and shut again quickly.

'Elle, this isn't funny!' Claire said, panic beginning to creep into her voice. Suddenly, the door burst open and Claire tumbled into the bedroom, falling onto her hands and knees. She just caught a glimpse of Elle lying on the floor, blood pooling from her head where the top had been cut off and discarded. The scream caught in her throat as a large hand clapped over her eyes.

'Hush there, my pet, it will all be over soon.'

The male voice sounded somewhat familiar, but Claire couldn't place where she had heard it before. The hand moved from her face, but Claire found herself unable to open her eyes.

'Couldn't risk you seeing me just in case you can heal it, now can I?' the voice murmured.

'Why are you doing this?' Claire whispered.

'Did you know that your father is one of the heads of this little operation?' the voice said conversationally, 'Consider this my way of saying hello.'

And then, there was nothing but cold blackness and pain.

The only thing Sylar had to worry about now was that the top of her head was far enough away that the girl couldn't reach it and heal before she bled out.

_______________

'He's picking us off one by one,' Daphne whispered. They were gathered together in the dining hall once again. Matt, standing in the front of the room looking all leader-like; Peter, sitting cross-legged on the table; Hiro, standing beside Matt and trying to look heroic; Ando, seated at the table with his head in his hands; Daphne and Tracy, sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor; Molly and Micah, now included since nobody wanted them out of sight, huddled in the corner; and Mohinder and Sylar, wrapped in each other's arms.

'Apparently, this experiment that we're a part of has been happening in different places all over the country,' Matt told them all softly, 'I found a number for the headquarters in New York and I called them. They're sending some people, Angela Petrelli and Noah Bennett.'

Peter looked up, shock written all over his face. 'My mother is a part of this?' he asked, 'My mother and Claire,' he choked slightly on her name, 'Claire's father?'

Matt nodded. 'So it would seem. All we can do is wait.'

'Wait?' Mohinder protested, 'And what? We let this monster keep killing us off? First Benjamin, then Nathan, now Claire and Elle, who's next? You, Matt? Me? Molly or Micah?'

'Mohinder is right,' Tracy said, 'We can't just sit around and wait for everyone to die. We have our abilities, let's use them.'

'We can't do anything if we don't know who he is,' Sylar pointed out, 'and, yes Matt, I know that you still think it's me, but that's not important right now. Besides, if it was me, what could you do to stop an all out slaughter right here, right now? Safety is key.'

'I agree with Gabriel,' Hiro said with finality, 'we must keep the safety of us, but especially the children, first of all things.'

In their corner, Molly and Micah huddled closer together.


	6. My Name is Sylar

It was getting difficult for him to quench his hunger for killing. Their security was tighter than ever. Most nights, the only available source was Mohinder, but Sylar couldn't bring himself to do it. He loved Mohinder too much to even think about it. On those nights, Sylar lost himself in Mohinder's body, the one pleasure besides killing that he had left.

He was getting desperate. The hunger was so powerful, so overwhelming, that it pained him like a kick to the gut. Sometimes, it was so strong that he wanted to just curl up and hide. Earlier on, Matt had decided that they needed two people on guard duty every night. It was just Sylar's luck that he got paired up with Peter Petrelli. Out of all of the remaining people, Sylar hated Peter the most. Except for Matt, of course.

It was only through sheer willpower that Sylar was able to stop himself from killing Peter right then and there during their first night of watch, if not to give Angela Petrelli more pain, than to shut the little whiner up. Sylar and Peter's second turn at playing guard duty happened to come up on one of the days where the hunger was most crippling. That was the night that Sylar snapped. He just couldn't take it any more.

'Hey, Gabe,' Peter greeted when Sylar approached.

'I'm sick of this,' Sylar growled closing in on the young Petrelli brother, 'Enough with the hiding, the lies and the pretenses.'

'What do you mean, Gabriel?' Peter asked, ever naïve and oblivious.

'I've come to finish what I started.'

The hunger was overwhelming, the rage all consuming. With a growling shout, Sylar shot a handful of lightning at the remaining Petrelli brother. Peter jumped, using the ability he had absorbed from Nathan to fly up to the ceiling.

'How did you do that? Gabriel!'

'My name is Sylar!'

Sylar shot another lightning bolt at Peter.

_____________

Mohinder was lonely. It was Gabriel's night on duty, so there was nothing to distract him from the world. He was unable to sleep; he had grown so accustomed to Gabriel's hummed lullabies. Mohinder was wandering aimlessly around the room when he spotted something on the bedside tale. It was Gabriel's watch. Mohinder frowned. The other man usually never left the room without the watch. He had told Mohinder once how he had built the entire timepiece from scratch from spare parts.

_I'll go take it to him,_ Mohinder decided and reached for the watch. As he went to grab it, Mohinder noticed a brand name written on the face of the watch near the conjuncture of the hands. Mohinder gasped as it all clicked into place.

________________

Peter was thrown into the wall, his head slamming backwards into the concrete. Sylar was grinning now as he shot yet another bolt of lightning, making the Petrelli writhe and scream in pain.

'You have no idea what I've been going through,' Sylar growled, keeping the still whimpering Peter telekinetically pinned to the wall with his left hand.

'The first time was an accident, but after that I just couldn't get enough,' Sylar continued, 'and it's all because your mother decided to meddle with our lives. I don't need your ability, mine serves just as well to acquire new powers. I will, however, enjoy watching you screaming in pain as cut off the top of your head, maybe throw in some brain spearing. Who knows?'

Sylar's tone was nonchalant and he meandered closer to where Peter was pinned, 'I already killed Nathan, now it's time to end the Petrelli family line for good.'

'I knew it!'

Keeping Peter pinned, Sylar looked over his shoulder at the door. Matt stood there, flanked by two people, a man and a woman.

'Peter!' the woman exclaimed, taking a small step forward. Although he didn't recognize either the man or woman, Sylar realized that there were only two people Matt would have rushed to bring in. A grin spread across Sylar's face.

'Noah Bennett and Angela Petrelli, so nice of you to join us!' he said smoothly, 'I've already had the pleasure of killing your daughter and son, respectively,' Matt, Angela, and Noah were thrown against the far wall and held there, 'You're just in time for the final act.'

Sylar raised his hand in the cutting position, taking aim at Peter's sweat-soaked forehead.

'Gabriel!'

With a cry of frustration, Sylar spun around, his killing finger still outstretched. Across the room, Mohinder Suresh fell to his knees, a long cut across his throat.

'No!'

It seemed to be slow motion in Sylar's mind; every movement and noise was exaggerated. The thump from Mohinder's knees hitting the ground was a sonic boom in his ears. The geneticist's back curved gracefully as he fell forward, a look of surprise gracing his sculpted features.

In a second, Sylar was beside Mohinder's fallen form, Peter, Matt, Angela, and Noah, freed from the telekinetic hold, dropped to the floor.

'Mohinder,' Sylar whispered.

The blood flowed sluggishly from the geneticist's throat, staining his shirt and Sylar's crimson. For the first time in a long time, Sylar cried, hot fat tears rolling down his nose to plop onto the floor. Sylar sobbed, cradling the dying man to his chest.

'Mohinder!'

As Noah pulled the murderer to his feet, Sylar—or was he Gabriel? —could swear that he heard one final word slip from Mohinder's lips.

'Gabriel.'

End


End file.
